CORU CPD Requirements for Allied Health Professionals in Ireland

If you're a physiotherapist, occupational therapist, speech and language therapist, dietitian, radiographer, social worker, social care worker, podiatrist, medical scientist, or optical professional practising in Ireland, you're registered with CORU — and that registration comes with a continuing professional development obligation. The short version: CORU asks every registrant, across every profession it regulates, to complete a minimum of 30 CPD credits every 12 months, keep a record of what they did, and be ready to produce that record if their Registration Board selects them for audit. There's no single accredited course list and no exam — CPD is self-directed, and it's built around what's actually relevant to your own practice. Here's what that looks like in practice, and how the audit side of it currently works.

What CORU is, and which professions it regulates

CORU is Ireland's multi-profession health and social care regulator, established under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 (as amended). It isn't a single-profession body like the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland regulating pharmacists — it's an umbrella structure made up of the Health and Social Care Professionals Council plus a separate Registration Board for each profession it covers. Each board sets and polices the standards of proficiency, code of conduct, and CPD requirements for its own profession, under CORU's overall statutory framework.

As of now, CORU has open, mandatory registers for the following professions:

• Dietitians
• Medical Scientists
• Occupational Therapists
• Dispensing Opticians and Optometrists
• Physiotherapists and Physical Therapists
• Podiatrists/Chiropodists
• Radiographers and Radiation Therapists
• Social Care Workers
• Social Workers
• Speech and Language Therapists

If you practise under any of these titles in Ireland, registration with CORU is a legal requirement — using a protected title without being registered is an offence. Five further professions are at various stages of being brought under CORU's remit but do not yet have open registers: psychologists, counsellors, psychotherapists, clinical biochemists, and orthoptists. Registration (and the CPD obligation that comes with it) for these groups is being phased in over time, board by board, so if you work in one of these areas it's worth checking CORU's site directly for the current status rather than assuming it applies to you yet.

The CPD requirement, as it actually works

Here's the part that surprises a lot of newly registered professionals: CORU runs one common CPD model across every registered profession, rather than a different hours-and-categories scheme per board. The core rule is:

• 30 CPD credits in every 12-month period, regardless of whether you work full-time, part-time, or are between jobs while still registered.
• One hour of new or enhanced learning equals one credit, and credits can be fractional — a 15-minute peer discussion, for example, can count as 0.25 of a credit.
• CPD is self-directed and self-assessed. CORU does not pre-approve, accredit, or maintain an official list of qualifying courses. It's up to you to judge whether an activity represents genuine new or enhanced learning relevant to your scope of practice.

This is a real point of difference from how CPD works for some other regulated professions in Ireland — the Medical Council's CPD scheme for doctors, for instance, is built around defined credit categories, and it's worth comparing the two if you're moving between professions or advising staff across a mixed clinical team.

All CORU registrants must also make a CPD declaration at the time of their annual registration renewal, confirming they are meeting the requirement — separate from, and in addition to, the possibility of being selected for a full audit.

What counts as valid CPD

Because CORU doesn't run an accredited-provider system, the emphasis is on the quality and relevance of the learning rather than the format it comes in. Activities CORU explicitly recognises as valid CPD include:

• Formal courses, workshops, and conferences
• Work-based learning (case discussions, journal clubs, in-service training)
• Reflective practice on your own clinical work
• Peer discussion and supervision
• Supervising students, where it involves new or enhanced learning for you as the supervisor
• Unplanned or informal learning opportunities that arise from day-to-day practice

The common thread is that the activity should connect to your actual learning needs as a practitioner — not simply hit a quota of hours for its own sake. CORU provides an optional CPD Record Template you can use to log activities, but you're free to use your own system, provided you can produce a clear record covering the full 12-month period if asked. Records need to be retained for the full length of your registration, not just the most recent cycle.

How compliance is checked — the audit process

CORU's CPD audit system is live and is being rolled out board by board rather than applying to every profession simultaneously from day one. Where an audit is active for your profession, a percentage of registrants on that register are selected at random and asked to submit their CPD record — evidencing the 30-credit minimum — through their online Registrant Portal. CORU has not published an exact percentage or number of registrants audited each cycle; it describes it as a random selection of "a percentage of the eligible register."

If you're selected, you'll typically need to show:

• A minimum of 30 CPD credits logged for the relevant 12-month period
• Evidence the learning was implemented in practice
• Some evaluation or reflection on what was learned
• A review of your ongoing learning needs and plans for the next period

You can be found non-compliant if you fail to engage with your Registration Board once selected, don't submit a record without an approved deferral, or if fitness-to-practise concerns arise from what you disclose. Deferrals are possible — for reasons such as maternity or adoptive leave, other statutory leave, or long-term illness — but they're considered case by case and aren't guaranteed; if leave covers more than roughly six months of an audit period, a deferral request is generally the right route. Anyone granted a deferral is automatically rolled into the next audit round rather than being audited retrospectively on the original period.

If you're weighing this up against a broader career or qualifications plan, it can also help to see how CPD obligations compare across the wider Irish health and care sector — for context, see our guides on NMBI's CPD requirements for nurses and midwives and, for those working toward a support role rather than a CORU-regulated one, our overview of QQI Level 5 Healthcare Support.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to complete CPD if I'm not currently working in my profession?
Yes. The 30-credit requirement applies to everyone on the register for a 12-month period, regardless of employment status. Being between jobs, working reduced hours, or being on leave doesn't remove the obligation, though extended leave can be grounds for requesting an audit deferral.

Does CORU pre-approve or accredit specific CPD courses?
No. CORU does not maintain an accredited list of approved providers or courses. It's the registrant's own responsibility to judge whether an activity constitutes genuine new or enhanced learning relevant to their scope of practice, and to be able to justify that if audited.

Is the CPD requirement the same for every CORU-regulated profession?
Yes, as things currently stand — the 30-credits-per-12-months model and the general definition of what counts applies across all the registration boards with open registers. The main variation between professions is in how and when the audit process is being rolled out, not in the underlying credit requirement itself.

What happens if I'm audited and can't show 30 credits?
CORU distinguishes between compliance and non-compliance outcomes. Non-compliance can follow from not submitting a record, not engaging with the audit process, or falling short without an approved deferral. The published guidance doesn't set out every possible sanction, so if you're unsure where you stand, contacting your Registration Board directly is the safest next step.

CPD requirements can shift as CORU continues to phase in new registration boards and expand its audit programme, so it's worth checking coru.ie directly for your own profession's current status before an audit period closes. Learnsignal does not currently offer CORU-recognised CPD content or hold any CORU accreditation — this article is provided for general information only.

This guide is part of Learnsignal's ongoing coverage of professional qualifications and training routes.

For the registration process that comes before CPD, see our step-by-step guide to CORU registration. Both are part of Learnsignal's complete guide to healthcare compliance and CPD training in Ireland.